Hundreds object to 300-home 'merger' of posh Welsh village with 'humble' neighbour

Hundreds of villagers in have made an eleventh-hour effort to head off of a major housing development they fear will overwhelm their communities. People in Hawarden and neighbouring Mancot say local schools, dentists and GP surgeries are full, roads are packed and there is little space left in local cemeteries.

Housing developer Castle Green Homes plans to build 300 homes on land off Ash Lane in Mancot. Two miles away, a further 315 homes are earmarked for land off Holywell Road in Ewloe, Flintshire.

Residents in Hawarden – named one of the UK’s best villages by the Sunday Times – and Mancot are up in arms against the Ash Lane development amid concerns it could swamp local roads and change priority lists for schools. People complain services are already stretched with the ongoing construction of 767 homes at the Airfields site in Sealand.

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There is concern the Ash Lane scheme will effectively merge Hawarden – a village with a population of 1,887 – with Mancot, a community of 3,462 people formed from three former hamlets. Only a couple of fields would separate a village with a fountain, residential library and some of Flintshire's most expensive addresses, with another that once had a peanut factory and cabaret nights whose name is believed to mean “humble dwelling”.

Flintshire councillor Sam Swash, who represents both villages, has pledged “complete resistance” from the two communities. "Everybody knows that this reckless development is completely inappropriate,” he said. “It is bad for existing residents and new residents alike, all of whom will rely on increasingly non-existent services and overstretched local infrastructure.”

Both the Mancott and Ewloe sites were included in Flintshire’s Local Development Plan (LDP) that, despite objections, was agreed in January 2023. The LDP earmarked housing land for 7,870 homes to meet a housing requirement of 6,950 dwellings.

Following a consultation period, Castle Green has now formally applied for planning consent for 300 flats, terraced, semi-detached, and detached houses between Ash Lane and Gladstone Way. The North Wales Live Whatsapp community for top stories and breaking news is live now - here’s how to sign up

The proposal includes 105 homes classed as affordable housing. Castle Green has also pledged a play area, public open spaces. Deadline for objections is on Tuesday, April 16 and, in the past week or so, 239 villagers have registered their opposition to the plan.

On social media, a Mancot resident said: “Cannot cope with any more vehicles speeding through. (It’s) absolutely shocking.” Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox

Another added: “It’s getting ridiculous now - 300 in Ewloe and 300 in Hawarden. You can’t get into the doctors now. And imagine another 1,200 plus cars coming through the villages.”

The proposed Holywell Road development on 25 acres of farmland in Ewloe is a little further behind in the planning process. A pre-application consultation is underway and a formal bid is expected later this year.

Some 126 affordable homes are included on a development site that will include a variety of flats, and terraced, semi-detached and detached properties. Castle Green Homes has indicated that funding will be made available to support local facilities and infrastructure improvements.

A design and access statement notes that the nearest GP facilities are in Connah’s Quay 2.5km away, while a dentist surgery is located less than 1km away in St Davids Park, Ewloe. The statement added: “Overall it is considered that the site is well served by existing healthcare provisions.”

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